Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras contacted his Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi and expressed his condolences to the families of those killed during the devastating earthquake that hit central Italy early Wednesday morning.
“We follow the events in Italy with anguish and hope that there are no more victims of the earthquakes. I asked PM Matteo Renzi to convey the condolences of the Greek people and government to the families of the victims. We are ready to assist the Italian authorities in any way needed,” the Greek prime minister said on social media.
Meanwhile a team of 15 Greek special operations experts have been dispatched to Italy to assist with the rescue and evacuation operations.
“The Italians appealed for help early in the morning. Two Greek earthquake evaluation experts have already departed for the neighbouring country and we are also waiting for a formal invitation’’ said team leader Miltos Benakis.
The 6.2 earthquake hit 140 kilometres from Rome and destroyed homes, villages and townships in the early morning when most people were still sleeping, injuring over 350 people and killing over 120*.
*The number of victims which appear in this article are at the time of publication.
